Register for Coalition of Rutgers Unions Town Hall Meetings on Open Enrollment for Health Insurance

Sign up to attend a town hall meeting about your health plan options:

• Tuesday, October 8, at 1 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link
• Tuesday, October 8, at 5:30 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link
• Wednesday, October 9, at 7 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link

John,

The Coalition of Rutgers Unions (CRU) is holding town hall meetings for you to learn about your health insurance options during the open enrollment period in October for the State Health Benefits Program. We encourage you to attend and learn about the health plan changes (which will go into effect next January 1), so that you can make decisions about whether you would like to switch plans during open enrollment, which ends October 31, 2024.

Unfortunately, the changes coming for the next calendar year are not positive for us. Earlier this month, the NJ State Health Benefits Commission voted 3–2 to approve increased insurance premiums—double-digit increases for some plans. The two union representatives on the commission voted against the increases (for reasons we outline below), but all three state representatives appointed by the governor voted in favor. Our coalition partner Patrick Nowlan, AAUP-AFT Executive Director, will be at the CRU town halls to explain the health plan changes and answer your questions, so please sign up now to attend.

How Much Are Employee Contributions Increasing on January 1, 2025?

Not all plans are going up by the same amount:

• For Rutgers employees in a Horizon NJ Direct/2019 and Aetna Freedom/2019 PPO plan, the increase in employee contributions is limited to 4.5 percent, under the terms of our union contracts—even though the total premium increases borne by the state are significantly higher (10.1 percent). So if your per-paycheck insurance contribution is $111 today, it will increase to $116 in 2025. (This contractual limit is fortunate for us compared to some of the other plan increases.)
• For Rutgers employees in a Horizon Omnia or Aetna Liberty Plus tiered network plan, employee contributions will remain at 75 percent of the cost of the 2019 PPO plans above.
• For Rutgers employees in all other plans, employee contributions will increase by 14.5 percent. Contributions for these plans are based on annual salary and premium, so unfortunately, the money deducted from each of your paychecks will go up by the full percentage increase borne by the state. Those plans include:
  • Horizon – Direct 15, Direct 1525, Direct 2030, Direct 2035, HMO plan, and the two high deductible plans
  • Aetna – Freedom 15, Freedom 1525, Freedom 2030, Freedom 2035, HMO plan, and the two high deductible plans

So the news is better (or at least less bad) for those of you in the 2019 PPO or tiered network plans. But remember: these plans may have higher per-visit copays and other costs. You will need to decide whether those factors outweigh the benefit of a lower employee contribution increase. Another reason to come to the CRU town halls listed above and hear a thorough explanation of what you should consider in deciding!

Why Did the Premiums Go Up, and What Can We Do About It?

Since July, our unions have partnered with other public employee unions representing state and local government employees to oppose the premium increases proposed by the state’s actuarial consultant. Our union coalition made specific, data-driven proposals that would have cut the proposed premium increases by 25–50 percent, saving over $80 million for taxpayers, employers, and employees, without diminishing the quality of health care plans or shifting costs to employers or employees.

We proposed basing premiums on actual experience rather than estimates. Using actual experience, Horizon’s estimates, and the experience in other states as evidence, we proved that the state’s actuarial assumptions are flawed, inflated, and never questioned. What’s more, the state audits less than 20 percent of overall claims, so millions of dollars in overpayments and improper payments are never identified or recouped. We also proposed improved governance and auditing to fix this.

Our unions made several other proposals that would lower prices, create competition between Horizon and Aetna, and enforce the prices guaranteed by these insurance carriers. Sadly, the state rejected or ignored all of them. As a result, public employees will have to pay unprecedentedly high premiums, especially those working in local government, where the increases are 16.3 percent, effective January 1.

We won’t wait around until the state proposes another rate increase next year. We will keep fighting for the ideas our unions put forward and others, which have saved millions in other states. Unions have the best ideas for real health care reform to control costs, now and in the long term. We are fighting back against the total cost of coverage and the prices charged by insurance carriers, which must be controlled through cooperation between our unions and the state.

We hope you’ll join us when we take this fight to Trenton in the future. But for now, save the date and plan to attend the CRU Town Hall Meetings on Health Insurance:

• Tuesday, October 8, at 1 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link
• Tuesday, October 8, at 5:30 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link
• Wednesday, October 9, at 7 p.m. – Click to register for the Zoom link

In solidarity,

HPAE Rutgers locals 5089 and 5094